In March 2023, the Express 4×4 Truck Rental team raised $5,280 for Help Hope Live’s mission. We asked Vice President Ken Smith to tell us about the role that community support and charity play in the company’s mission.
Were you part of the efforts to raise funds for Help Hope Live in March?
Yes! Logan approached me about supporting Help Hope Live for our annual charity fundraising efforts. We support local charities in our area to help build up our community. Logan needed help to gain support from Change for the Better—the charitable committee of our parent company, Sasser—and introductions to our vendor partners. I set Logan up and he took it from there.
Fiancé of Help Hope Live’s Kate Lacouture, Logan had a personal connection. As he explained what he loved about the mission, I immediately felt that Help Hope Live was an organization focused on serving others, and that we would benefit from giving them our support.
Why choose Help Hope Live as a charity?
The biggest connection between Express and Help Hope Live is our mutual commitment to serving others.
Express’s motto is “WHEN YOU NEED IT, WHERE YOU NEED IT.” That is our big commitment: to deliver thousands of trucks to customers nationwide. Regardless of the obstacles that presents, we do what we say and meet our commitments. That approach got us to where we are today, and it influences everything we do.
We are dedicated to serving our team members, our customers, and our community, and Help Hope Live has a mission to do the same. Express has deep roots in the Philadelphia area, so we are proud of our Philly sports teams, our local partnerships, and the region’s charities.
Why do you think our mission matters?
Medical services in our area and across the country are extremely expensive. I know that caring for a loved one in medical crisis means someone may have to step back from a career and expend their life savings to obtain proper treatment.
The cost of care goes deeper than an invoice. I experienced this firsthand.
At the time, I was not aware of Help Hope Live’s services. Today, I am comforted knowing that organizations like Help Hope Live exist to provide support when it’s needed the most.
No one plans for a medical emergency—but individually or as a workplace, you can plan to support an organization like Help Hope Live that is there for people at their greatest time of need.
Can workplace efforts like this one make a difference to a local community?
When you take action and support a cause you believe in together with your co-workers, you build trust and develop relationships.
We try to partner with local organizations like Help Hope Live that are focused on making a meaningful impact, both in our community and nationwide. Developing relationships with local partners is essential to these fundraising efforts, which further builds our community connection, and it gives our Express team members an opportunity to give back in more ways than one.
These experiences build engagement and give meaning to your company culture.
Companies like ours are always looking for ways to find and keep great people. In addition to other benefits that a workplace can offer, initiatives that offer employees a chance to give back to causes they believe in can build that sense of community at a workplace while funding organizations like Help Hope Live. They can also build a resource network that employers can activate to help support employees facing challenges or a medical crisis of their own.
What do you love about the Express team?
Express is a family-owned business. I’ve worked at family-owned businesses throughout my career because there’s something special about them.
I’m part of a collaborative and passionate family organization, and that’s what I love the most.
Express 4x4 is a sponsor of this year’s Hope Travels 5K. How do you plan to participate this year?
I’m getting the whole family involved in the Hope Travels 5K, and my kids will document the experience.
What does the word “hope” mean to you?
Hope is believing in something you can’t see or touch, and passionately influencing others to do the same.
We are grateful to Ken and the Express 4×4 team for choosing to support Help Hope Live and our Hope Travels 5K this year.
Register to sponsor or participate in our Virtual 5K on May 20, or contribute to Help Hope Live’s mission at any time by participating in our events, making a donation, or exploring other meaningful ways to give as an individual or workplace.
Written by Emily Progin
